Weld highway death toll stands at 85

While one name was removed from Weld County’s record-setting traffic fatality toll on Tuesday, another name was added to keep the total at 85 people who have died this year on county roadways.

Sherry Lynn Slate, 29, of Johnstown died Nov. 8 when her car ran off a county road south of Johnstown and crashed. What was first thought to be a traffic accident was changed to an apparent suicide Tuesday after the Weld County Coroner’s office found evidence that pointed away from an accidental death.

“She was driving in the wrong direction from work that morning,” said coroner’s investigator Mark Ward. “There was also no evidence she tried to avoid having an accident, and we found some writings to her family that indicated she might have been planning something.”

Because her death was not an accident, it won’t be added to the Weld traffic fatality toll.

But the total hit 85 again when a Kersey woman died Tuesday at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley.

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Margaret Ohlendorf, 56, had been in the hospital since last Thursday, when she was involved in a a two-vehicle collision at Weld County roads 22 and 41 in south Weld. She had been at the hospital since the accident, Ward said.

According to the Colorado State Patrol, the collision occurred when Ohlendorf ran a stop sign at the intersection, which is five miles north of Hudson. After running the stop sign, Ohlendorf’s 2003 Ford 150 pickup collided with a Ford 350 pickup driven by Randall McDonald, 20, of Brighton.

McDonald has since been released from the hospital.

While McDonald was wearing a seat belt, state patrol reports showed Ohlendorf was not.